Torn
by Mystrana
Summary: Five years. A lot of stuff can happen in five years. But can love be forgotten in five years? (Not as sappy as it seems =p) Chapter Two Up
1. And

Ahem, since there need to be more No-face/Chiriko fics, here is my humble stab at it. Follows the same basic idea as Sith's INVISIABLE fic, so if there are similarities, it's because we planned these fics at the same time. Yup. ^_^ I hope you all like it ok.  
  
'The Kohaku River. . .'  
  
"Chihiro!"  
  
'That's your name, I remember . . .'  
  
"Chihiro, are you listening?"  
  
'. . . you saved me a long time ago . . .'  
  
"Where are you? Still in your room?"  
  
' . . . you saved me . . .'  
  
"Chihiro!"  
  
The girl in question looked up from her bed. "Yes?" she asked, looking up from the ceiling to the face of her mother.  
  
"Chihiro, you haven't been outside for so long. You've been keeping to yourself. Are you alright?" Her mother smiled gently at her. "Brooding like this isn't good for you. Why don't you go outside?"  
  
Chihiro turned over and stared at the wall. Her mother wouldn't understand the flashbacks that she had been having. After five long years, she still hadn't forgotten about Haku. Kohaku. The Kohaku River. "I just don't want to," she muttered.  
  
"Well, your father and I are going to go out to a friend's house, alright?" Her mother finally said, "We'll be gone until later tonight. Get outside sometime, ok?"  
  
Nodding, Chihiro flipped back onto her back and stared once again at the ceiling. 'Zeniba said that once you meet a person, you never truly forget them. Does that mean that Haku hasn't forgotten about me?' She sighed, and continued to stare at the ceiling in silence until her mother got up and went out the door.  
  
"Well?" Chihiro could hear her father ask her mother. She didn't bother to hear the rest of the conversation. Once the door had closed, and Chihiro could no longer hear their voices, she sat up.  
  
"I'm going to see Haku!" she said loudly, and there was no one around to say otherwise. "I want to see him again," she muttered, wondering why her eyes were starting to tear up. "I want to see him so bad."  
  
Through her tears, Chihiro changed into blue shorts and a gray shirt. She combed her hair back into a half ponytail, since it had grown just a bit longer, and then she looked in the mirror, and brushed her tears away. "I shouldn't be crying, Haku promised we'd see each other again. He promised."  
  
With that thought in mind, Chihiro ran out of her room, and out of the house, running down the long hill next to the house as fast as she could. "Haku, I'm coming to see you! Please be waiting for me!" She called out, finding the tunnel and sprinting though it.  
  
When she got to the other side, she paused, and marveled how beautiful the spirit world was. Green grass, the river gently flowing, and the air clean. She walked along a small path to get to the small town and the bathhouse.  
  
'Now where would Haku be?' Chihiro wondered as she wandered up to the bridge. 'Will I even recognize him?'  
  
"Chihiro?" A voice called.  
  
Chihiro's breath caught in her throat. That voice. It had to be him. Oh, it had deepened a little from him growing up, but . . . she turned around to see Haku in front of her. He was still taller than her, and his hair was a bit longer, but he was still Haku. "Haku! It's really you!"  
  
Haku smiled gently. "Chihiro, how have you been?"  
  
"I've been good, but mostly I just wanted to come and see you! For five years . . . oh, Haku, you didn't forget about me ever did you?" Chihiro said in one breath.  
  
"Of course not, but I would like you to meet someone," he said.  
  
Chihiro blinked. "Ok, who is it?"  
  
A young lady stepped up to Haku's side. The girl had long brown hair, braided, that probably would have gone to her feet if it were loose. Her eyes were dark dark brown, just like Chihiro's, and she was just as tall as Chihiro, too. "This, Chihiro," Haku said slowly, "Is my girlfriend, Sen."  
  
Chihiro's breath caught in her throat again, but this time for a different reason. She had to sit down right on the ground, because she was so shocked. 'This is my girlfriend. Sen.' The words echoed in her throat. 'Sen, my girlfriend.'  
  
"I'm pleased to meet you, Chihiro," Sen offered her hand, not particularly caring that Chihiro was on the ground, nearly crying.  
  
"Haku . . . ." She said, softly, her eyes wide, "You . . . how could you . . . ?"  
  
"Chihiro," Haku said, "I'm going to explain this, alright? Will you listen?"  
  
Chihiro didn't think she could get up to run away at the minute, so she nodded mutely.  
  
"The Spirit world is a special world. Everyone who comes into this world will eventually get a twin. For example, when Yubaaba came here a long time ago, her twin, Zeniba was born here. The beasts that already live here don't get twins, of course, but everyone who comes here does. When you came here, Yubaaba took your name, and so therefore you didn't exsist, but Sen did."  
  
Sen nodded in agreement, and Chihiro still couldn't speak.  
  
"Your twin was created to be a twin of Sen, which is this girl here. She is a lot like you, but also different, obviously," Haku said. "I . . . when I saw her, it was just after you left. I was so lonely, and she was almost like you being here."  
  
Chihiro didn't want to hear what came next. She covered her ears.  
  
"Chihiro, don't get upset about this," Haku said, "I still like you a lot."  
  
"No you don't . . ." whispered Chihiro. Her eyes filled with tears, and she stood up, brushing them away. "You don't at all or you would have never done that!" With that, she bolted away from the bathhouse, as fast as she could.  
  
"You're going to have to learn the hard way, aren't you?" Haku sighed as he watched Chihiro go. "I came to this world too, you know."  
  
"What was that?" Sen asked Haku, smiling at him.  
  
"Nothing."  
  
~~~  
  
Chihiro ran as fast as she could, not caring where she went, so long as it was away from Haku. "How could he betray me like that," she said, scrunching up her eyes and sobbing.  
  
"You're a far way from your home, aren't you?" came a new voice, and Chihiro stopped in her tracks to see Zeniba.  
  
"Granny!" she said.  
  
"You ran a ways, dear, come in and sit down," Zeniba said, guiding the distraught girl to her house.  
  
Once inside, Zeniba pulled out two cups and set out tea. "No-Face," she called, "We have a guest. Can you grab the cookies from the cupboard?"  
  
"Oh, is he still here?" Chihiro said happily. "How has he been doing?"  
  
"No-face has been doing fine. Here, I've been calling him Kaonashi. Why don't you too?" Zeniba smiled. "It means the same, but doesn't it sound so much more fitting?"  
  
"Yes, I guess," Chihiro said, and then sighed, remembering why she was here in the first place.  
  
"Cheer up, dear," Zeniba said. "Kaonashi, come on, don't be shy."  
  
After a moment, No Face - Kaonashi - came into the room, holding a plate of cookies. Chihiro smiled and took one. "Thank you," she muttered. "Kaonashi."  
  
Kaonashi nodded at her and sat down next to Zeniba.  
  
"Now, why are you here?" Zeniba asked gently.  
  
Chihiro sighed. "I came back to talk to Haku . . . it's been five years, and I just missed him so much, but when I got here . . . he said . . . he said that he had a girlfriend! Named Sen!" She took a deep breath to keep from bursting out into tears. "He explained how everyone who comes into spirit world gets a twin and that Sen is my twin, and that's why he fell in love with her, but . . ." Chihiro trailed off, wiping tears from her eyes.  
  
"I understand," Zeniba said. "Haku is right, you know. People do get twins. You've got your twin, I've got mine, even Haku has one. He wasn't from here originally, of course."  
  
"Yes I know - do you know his twin?" Chihiro asked, blinking hard to clear the last tears from her eyes.  
  
"You do too," Zeniba replied.  
  
It wasn't like Zeniba to be cryptic, so Chihiro was confused. "I don't get it, what do you mean?"  
  
"Let me show you," Zeniba said, smiling, and she waved her hand. There was a quick, flashing light, and then where Kaonashi had been sitting was a boy with long green hair, pulled back into a loose ponytail. The boy had piercing green eyes and blue markings on his face, above and below his eyes.  
  
"Kaonashi?" Chihiro gasped. "No face is Haku's twin???" 


	2. Then

Will everyone hate me if I'm mean to Haku? Oh well, doesn't matter, because I won't actually be mean to him. Ah, just read it and see what happens, ok?? =p  
  
.;";.;";.;";.;T;o;r;n;";.;";.;";  
  
"Chihiro. . . "  
  
Everything, was it just a lie?  
  
"Chihiro, come on, are you ok?"  
  
Were they just using her?  
  
"Chihiro."  
  
Chihiro blinked hard and forced herself to look at Zeniba's face. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, feeling tears threatening to fall. "Am I just here to amuse you guys?"  
  
"Dear, why would you think that?" sighed Zeniba, "Listen, please. When you come here from other places, after awhile, your twin will simply appear, Haku told you that right?"  
  
She simply nodded.  
  
"Ok, another thing is, that the twins are also a reflection of your inside, to a degree. Usually, they take one of your traits you keep hidden, and bring them out to the fullest. Why do you think I'm so nice? Yubaba has repressed her niceness with greed for so long. Kaonashi over here, he is shy. Haku is always standing up for himself and others, but he, too, must have moments of vulnerability. Do you understand?"  
  
"Yes, I do," Chihiro said slowly, "But does it have anything to do with me?"  
  
"Oh, dear, I'm afraid it has everything to do with you," Zeniba said sadly.  
  
"I didn't ask for this!" Chihiro yelled immediately. "I didn't ask my dad to take a shortcut, I didn't ask my dad to come here in the first place!"  
  
"Calm down, Chihiro," Zeniba replied. "We don't want you to be upset. We know you asked for none of this, but, in that, it makes it even more so."  
  
"Please, please, explain it to me," Chihiro said, wishing her mood wouldn't swing so fast. Now she felt like she was going to cry again.  
  
"Kaonashi, please come here," Zeniba said instead. Kaonashi came over, and looked at Zeniba questionly. "I want you to explain to her, alright?"  
  
"Alright," Kaonashi said softly. It was the first time Chihiro had ever heard the spirit speak, and his voice was captivating. Soft, yet with a slight commanding presence behind it, listening to Kaonashi talk was like listening to water running down a stream.  
  
"Oh!" Chihiro said softly, "That makes sense. Kaonashi is the twin of a river spirit." She turned to him, "I'm sorry for interrupting, please continue!"  
  
"Don't worry about it," Kaonashi replied, smiling tentatively. "There is nothing more to explain about the twins except that . . . once they meet for the first time, they become enemies and will - must - fight. . ."  
  
"Fight?" Chihiro asked, her eyes round, "Like . . . death?"  
  
"Not quite," Kaonashi replied quietly. "Yubaba and Zeniba have been fighting for years, and nothings happened yet. Haku and I. . . we fought and he won . . . when he won, he turned me into the shapeless thing that I was until I met you."  
  
"What did meeting me have to do with anything?" Chihiro asked, eyes widening even more.  
  
"I can't say exactly," Kaonashi said, "But right after you left, Zeniba realized she could give me back my normal body. It's easier for me to not be in it when you're not around, but when you're around, it's no problem! So . . . Zeniba and I think there must be something about you that . . ."  
  
"That what? Kaonashi, do you mean it drains all of Zeniba's energy to keep you like that?" Chihiro asked worriedly.  
  
"No, no, dear," Zeniba said, smiling. "Only when you're not around. When you're not in Spirit World."  
  
"But what does that mean?"  
  
"That is what we're trying to figure out," Zeniba said. "And as for you, Sen will not want to be near you for some reason, Haku is torn between the two of you, and Kaonashi here will do his best to help you. Pick your allies carefully."  
  
"Pick my allies? Why? Granny, what's going to happen to me?"  
  
"I don't know," Zeniba said, as truthfully as ever. "We're going to have you go over to Yubaba's place, and you'll have to find Ren."  
  
"Find Ren? Why?"  
  
"Ren has been here for many years. She was not born here, so by all means she should have a twin, but she doesn't. Chihiro, when you go, you'll have to be careful," Zeniba said sadly. "Spirit World is changing all the time, and now there are many evil spirits lurking about, even in the bathhouse. You'll have to watch out for Sen, so I'll send Kaonashi with you."  
  
Kaonashi stepped forward and smiled. "Chihiro, will you go to the Bathhouse?"  
  
"I don't have a choice, do I?" Chihiro said softly, looking away.  
  
"You can choose whatever you want," Zeniba said sharply. Chihiro looked up quickly; she had never heard Zeniba be so sharp. "But by coming back to Spirit World, the least you can do is take responsibility for your actions."  
  
"Yes'm!" Chihiro said, out of reflex. Zeniba relaxed and smiled.  
  
"Go on then, Chihiro. Here are some train tickets." Zeniba handed them to Chihiro and Kaonashi, and then shooed the two of them out, wishing them luck.  
  
"But what is Ren going to let us know?" Chihiro called as she walked.  
  
"You'll have to wait to find out," Zeniba called back, smiling.  
  
Chihiro turned to Kaonashi and sighed. "I don't know about you, but I'm confused."  
  
"I've been confused for a long time too," replied Kaonashi.  
  
For a long time, there was silence again, and then Chihiro spoke up, "All I wanted to do was see everyone again. . . I just . . . didn't mean to cause any trouble."  
  
"You didn't."  
  
"But you did anyway," Came another voice, and Chihiro looked up to see Sen. Chihiro groaned and stepped onto the train platform.  
  
"Sen." Kaonashi said slowly. "Go away."  
  
"I'm hear to tell you he's mine," Sen said to Chihiro, ignoring Kaonashi.  
  
"I don't care," Chihiro said.  
  
"You will be sorry," Sen replied easily. "Haku and Yubaba will work together and get you. You can't escape."  
  
"Why would they want to?" Chihiro said angrily. "I'm not doing anything to them."  
  
Sen started laughing. "So then you don't know? Wow! I would have thought Zeniba told you everything! I guess Zeniba doesn't know everything either!"  
  
Chihiro narrowed her eyes.  
  
"But I won't waste my time with a pathetic fool like you for now. Haku, let's go." Sen said, walking off into the darkness. A few minutes later, a dragon flew up, with Sen on its back.  
  
"Haku . . ." Chihiro said softly, and was surprised to feel a tear on her face. "Why am I crying over you?"  
  
Kaonashi said nothing, but stood next to Chihiro and held her hand quietly.  
  
"Thank you," Chihiro said, and the tears continued to flow down her face. The train pulled up and they got on. Chihiro looked out the window, "Everything here, Kaonashi, why can they all live in peace?"  
  
"No one can live in peace," Kaonashi said, "Not humans, not spirits. We just do the best we can, and right now . . . it's not good."  
  
"You know something, don't you?" Chihiro said instantly.  
  
"All I know is what Zeniba told you. And one other thing I don't want to say . . . but . . . many spirits do not like Yubaba. They plan on attacking her sometime. Killing her."  
  
"Yeah?" Chihiro didn't like the thought of anyone dying, but it was Yubaba.. ."  
  
"When the first of the twins dies, the second dies as well, and . . . I don't want Zeniba to die."  
  
"You mean if Haku died, you die too? And if I died, Sen would too?"  
  
"Yeah. Something like that." 


End file.
